Rohit Sharma a better captain than Virat Kohli to lead India in 2019 World Cup?

Once regular skipper Virat Kohli is back from his break, he will lead India across all formats of the game. His current challenge is West Indies at home, which should not leave him much worried. However, the limited-overs series against WI will provide a great platform to prepare the team for the 2019 World Cup. Apart from the middle-order woes, Kohli also has to establish that he is the top captain to lead India across all formats, especially in limited-overs cricket, as a certain Rohit Sharma is set to give him a tough competition for the top job in Indian national team.

Rohit Sharma has led India in few matches in ODIs and T20Is whenever selectors have given Kohli rest from the international schedule. And Rohit has to work with a depleted team as other over-worked but first-team players were also given a rest.

Rohit Sharma does not complain

Rohit Sharma has led brilliantly whenever Virat Kohli has been rested

But Rohit is not the skipper to complain. He makes the best use of his resources, and give the opposition a tough fight and win matches for his country. His own form with the bat goes a notch higher when he leads the country in limited-overs cricket. He averages 106.80 in ODIs and 38.44 in T20Is as captain.

He, recently, won the Asia Cup final against Bangladesh. During the thrilling final, Rohit showed great calm and composure to take India out of jail and on the path to victory. He showed greater tactical acumen and awareness of the game to bail out India during the final. His three titles as skipper of Mumbai Indians in IPL has given him enough exposure and experience to lead India to win from hopeless situations. Besides, he keeps his emotions in check, never crossing the line, unlike his current boss Kohli.

Rohit Sharma has won everything but just two games

In his brief career as skipper in limited-overs cricket, Rohit has hardly lost anything. In his combined tally as skipper in both ODIs and T20Is, he has led India in 17 games, winning 15 and losing just two. He has won the ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka, Nidahas Trophy and Asia Cup.

But all have come against Asian teams such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. So, would it be right to judge Rohit Sharma’s captaincy against such teams, while he is yet to lead against top teams such as South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

Rohit Sharma yet to be tested against stronger teams

Rohit Sharma celebrates after scoring his third double ton. (BCCI tv)

It can be said Rohit has done a great job in absence of Virat Kohli as a skipper in limited-overs cricket, the latter continues to be the No 1 player in the XI for India across all formats. And BCCI would not like separate captains for different formats. They have had done it before with MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli leading the different formats in the not so distant past.

But with the 2019 World Cup looming large, India would do well to go with their regular skipper Virat Kohli. But yes, Rohit Sharma’s show as skipper has definitely will keep Kohli on his toes to raise his level as a skipper in limited-overs cricket. Kohli is yet to lay his hands over a trophy in multi-nations tournament as a standalone skipper. And that will be a target that Kohli would like to achieve it soon.